Poof!
by Umiko
Summary: Christine has disappeared...and it's not Erik's fault! But can Raoul comprehend this? More insanity!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
  
  
  
"Christine! It's two o'clock!" Raoul called.  
  
No answer. He tried again, "Christine, I promised I would take you shopping, remember? Christine?" Frustrated, he knocked, then opened the door to his fiancé's room. No one was there. Only slightly confused, he headed off to the music room. Upon seeing that it, too, was empty, he made his way out to the garden. Again, there was no sign of Christine. Becoming increasingly paranoid, he searched the entire residence. Alas, the hapless young man's quest was to no avail, and he trudged into the kitchen.  
  
"Has no one seen Christine today?" he asked a maid.  
  
"No, sir. At least, I haven't."  
  
Raoul sighed. "There's only one thing that could possibly have happened." he muttered.  
  
"And what's that, if you don't mind me asking, sir?"  
  
He stood up, looking rather determined. "I shall be gone for a while. You'll be able to handle things around here while I'm gone, Adelle?"  
  
"Of course, sir!" the maid chirped, annoyed that the Vicomte didn't think she could manage in his absence.  
  
"Very well," he sighed. Then, very solemnly, he said, "Goodbye," and trotted off.  
  
As Raoul stood outside the Opera House, the rational part of his mind told him he had better come up with a plan before he tried to go rushing into the Opera Ghost's lair again. However, as he was certain that some truly horrible fate had befallen his beloved, he ignored that thought. Luckily for him, the Universe decided to compensate for his average intelligence by allowing in him into the underground house with only getting a tad wet. Besides, whoever is in charge of the universe didn't like hearing him whine in the torture chamber again.  
  
Feeling very proud that he'd gotten himself this far, Raoul started pounding on Erik's door, demanding entrance. Erik, meanwhile, was quite disgusted that someone was interrupting his feelings of self-pity over loosing Christine. Eager to dispose of the intruder, he opened the door.  
  
"You?" he asked, shocked.  
  
"Where is she? Let her go, you monster!" Raoul shouted.  
  
"Let who go? I've been alone since you dragged Christine away from me!"  
  
"Liar! Let me see her!"  
  
"You.think I've kidnapped Christine again?" Erik asked.  
  
"You have.haven't you?"  
  
Erik glared at him. "No."  
  
"So.she's not here."  
  
"Don't you think I'd be a bit more cheerful if she were here?"  
  
"Well, if she's not with you, then where is she?"  
  
"I don't know.Wait! You lost Christine?" Erik demanded.  
  
"Well, I.No! She's disappeared! And if you haven't kidnapped her."  
  
Erik was trying to remain calm. "You really have no idea where she is? You haven't just forgotten some detail of a conversation, have you?"  
  
"No," Raoul muttered, indignant.  
  
While Erik mentally calculated all the places Christine might have gone on her own, Raoul asked innocently, "Um.would you mind helping me find her?"  
  
"You want my help, you pitiful little fop? You'd be better off going home and letting me search for her. Don't worry, I've learned my lesson; I won't force her to stay with me."  
  
"She's my fiancé! I want to help!"  
  
"You'd slow me down!"  
  
"No, I wouldn't!"  
  
Erik shook his head. "Fine! Just stop whining. Come on. We're going to pay a visit to the daroga."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"My God, boy! Are you really that oblivious?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Wisely deciding not to argue this any further, Erik motioned for Raoul to follow him out of the labyrinth. 


	2. Chapter 2

Eep! I forgot the disclaimer last time! *hides* Anyway, I don't own POTO, etc.  
  
Chapter 2  
  
"Stop pounding on the door like that! It's rude!" Raoul said.  
  
Erik glared at him. "You're concerned about politeness at a time this? My Chris—ah, that is, your fiancé is missing. Do you know what a daroga is, you silly fop?"  
  
Raoul shook his head.  
  
"An investigator, my dear boy." Erik stopped his incessant rapping on the door and stepped back.  
  
"Thank you," Raoul said.  
  
Erik sighed and started walking towards the back of the building.  
  
"Where are you going?" Raoul asked.  
  
"Stay there!"  
  
"But—"  
  
"Stay there!"  
  
Raoul glumly obeyed. He hated feeling helpless, and he always felt helpless around this Erik. He leaned against the wall and tried to rationalize the situation.  
  
Just then, the door opened and Erik let Raoul in.  
  
"Well, where is your friend?" Raoul asked.  
  
"He's not my friend; apparently, he isn't home either."  
  
"Poot," Raoul muttered.  
  
"'Poot?' My God, boy, at least swear like a man!"  
  
The young man's cheeks turned a slight shade of red. "Why are you always yelling at me? You could at least behave like a gentleman."  
  
"And you could stop whining like a child."  
  
"All I want is to help Christine; that's all I ever wanted! I want her to be happy…and I want to be happy with her. Don't you understand that?"  
  
Erik stiffened. "Have you ever thought, for a moment, that is not what I also wanted? Do you really take me for a monster?" The he laughed coldly. "Of course you do! Everyone does! Why should you be any different? Even Christine…But you need my help, whether you like it or not. I'd rather Christine be with you and safe than…" He trailed off, not wanting to think of what could have happened.  
  
After a few moments, Raoul asked shyly, "You mean that? You really just want her to be safe?"  
  
Before Erik could answer, the owner of the apartment came in.  
  
"What…are you doing…Erik and Monsieur le Vicomte?"  
  
"Oh! The Persian!" Raoul exclaimed.  
  
Erik resisted the urge to slap him, and instead turned to his acquaintance. "Mlle. Daaè has disappeared from the vicomte's residence."  
  
"Are you sure she isn't shopping in Paris?"  
  
"I never thought of…" Raoul started.  
  
"We're sure," Erik cut him off.  
  
"Well, where do you think she would go?" the daroga asked.  
  
"I don't know!" Raoul exclaimed.  
  
"We don't even know the reason she left…" Erik mumbled.  
  
"Well, I can only suggest that Monsieur le Vicomte report her disappearance to the proper authorities."  
  
"They're useless," Raoul said.  
  
"You want to go look for her?" the daroga asked Erik.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Would she go back to Sweden?" Raoul wondered aloud.  
  
"No!" the daroga snapped abruptly.  
  
Both men starred at him. "I mean…why would she go back there, where there are so many painful memories? I think…your fiancé may be in England. Perhaps she just needed to get away from Paris."  
  
"Thank you. Come along, Monsieur de Changy."  
  
Raoul obediently followed Erik out of the Persian's apartment.  
  
"So…we shall go to England? I can secure you a private cabin so no one will see…"  
  
"We're going to Sweden," Erik announced.  
  
"But he said she wouldn't be there."  
  
"He's lying. Be ready to leave in three days. I trust you can pack yourself? I need to speak with him further."  
  
"But why would he lie?"  
  
"If I knew, I wouldn't have to ask him, would I?"  
  
"Um…I guess not…"  
  
Erik sighed. "Speak of this to no one, understand?"  
  
"I suppose…I just don't understand…"  
  
"Raoul, when have you ever understood anything?" 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
  
Raoul paced uneasily in his bedroom. Three days. The madman had given him three days of waiting…he had probably left for England, or Sweden, or…somewhere by now!  
  
The young man scowled. He was not a patient person, especially in matters involving Christine.  
  
"She must have been kidnapped," he thought. "There's no way she would just get up and leave…and even if she did, she would go to find ihim/i."  
  
"However," the rationalization continued, "since she didn't go off to find Erik, she must still love me…but if she loved me, wouldn't she have told me she was leaving? Wouldn't she have trusted me?"  
  
That concept having tired his higher thinking processes, Raoul sighed and went to bed.  
  
Erik hammered on his organ in frustration. It just didn't make any sense! True, Christine was about as sharp as a tomato, but this disappearance of hers was completely unexplainable, as were the Persian's rushed lies. He sighed. It was the girl's voice and innocence he had fallen in love with, but now that he thought about it, her innocence bordered on naiveté, which occasionally bordered on foolishness. And hadn't she lied to that idiot boy as well as to him?  
  
He shook his head. There was no sense in worrying over such things. He had to prepared himself for the coming day's questioning of the daroga.  
  
Still, the thought lingered in the back of his mind.  
  
"I assure, I have no idea where she is. I'm sure she's fine, though. Mlle. Daaè does not intentionally seek danger."  
  
"Yes, but she always seems to find it," Erik muttered.  
  
The daroga smiled. "You sound…bitter."  
  
"Aren't I always?"  
  
"You know," the man said thoughtfully, "the three of you—yourself, Monsieur le Vicomte, and Christine Daaè—all have a similar problem."  
  
"Oh? And what's that?"  
  
"M. de Changy sees a perfect vision of his childhood friend; Christine saw both an earthly protector and her promised angel, and you…you, my friend, saw your salvation."  
  
"And your point?"  
  
"You all fell in love with ideals, Erik. None of you ever stepped back to see the person. Perhaps…Mlle. Daaè realized this and…fled."  
  
"Yes…she is quite good at fleeing, isn't she?" Erik mused. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
  
  
  
Raoul was extremely annoyed. It was nearly eleven o'clock at night on the third day, and still no sign of that blasted man! Between his disgust over Erik's tardiness and his exhaustion over worrying for Christine, he decided to go to bed.  
  
"I was wondering when you'd show up."  
  
"Eep!" Raoul squealed. "You…why are you in my bedroom?"  
  
"Did you expect me to knock on the door and have your maid show me in?" Erik demanded dryly.  
  
"Well…no…"  
  
"You stupid…Wait. Hold the light up to your face."  
  
"Why?" Raoul asked.  
  
"Just do it."  
  
"No!"  
  
"Aha! You've been crying!"  
  
"I have not!"  
  
"Yes, you have!"  
  
Raoul pouted. "I'm worried about my fiancé! Besides…when we left, you were sobbing like a child!"  
  
Erik fought the urge to straggle him. "And so would you, if the one woman you ever cared about you treated humanely left with an ignorant schoolboy!"  
  
"Well, you would cry if you thought your fiancé had run—"  
  
Erik smirked. "You think she left you?"  
  
"Well…" Suddenly, he became very stuffy. "I doesn't matter, really. She's childish, really. I mean, what sane grown woman believes in singing tutors who are angels?"  
  
"Don't' speak that way about…" He paused, and also took on a slightly stuffy air. "I do suppose you're right. She didn't even have the decency to tell either of us her true feelings. She led both of us on!"  
  
"Well said! Say, would you like a brandy?"  
  
"Now that you mention it, yes, I would. I shall enjoy sending an evening acting as a normal man."  
  
"And there's no reason you shouldn't."  
  
Just then, the maid ran in. "Oh, Monsieur, there's been a terrible mistake! Eh…who's that?"  
  
"Never mind. What happened, Adelle?"  
  
"I've found Mlle. Daaè, sir!"  
  
"Where?" both men asked at once.  
  
"It appears she had stumbled into a broom closet and the door locked on its own! Poor girl was in there for several days! She's in her room resting now. Shall I call a doctor, sir?"  
  
"Yes…yes, do that."  
  
"As you wish, sir." She left.  
  
Erik and Raoul looked at each other.  
  
"My fiancé…locked herself…in a broom closet."  
  
"The daroga…really didn't know anything."  
  
"Um…M. Erik, is there…word for someone like that?"  
  
"I believe…'ditz' would be the proper term."  
  
"I know I'm not a scholar…but her stupidity is detrimental to my health! You what…Erik, you can have her!"  
  
"Um…no, Raoul. You have my blessing to marry Christine. Besides, she'd probably spill ink on my iDon Juan/i."  
  
"No, you've been lonely all your life…you need companionship. You can marry Christine. I'll even pay for your wedding!"  
  
Adelle hurried back in. "Monsieur, she's calling for you!"  
  
Raoul swallowed.  
  
Erik grinned slyly. "Good night, Monsieur le Vicomte. I'll be off, now."  
  
The End 


End file.
